Black Beauty

Metope: Black Beauty Label: Areal Records

This is a very interesting and unusual CD that stands out amongst the many dance releases that cross my path, simply because it isn't a standard formulaic dance-music release. Even the description of the album says "On we march… into the unknown". The sound is strange and exotic, with odd manipulations and tones. Even though you might describe the tracks using genre terms "techno" or "minimal house" or "dub", they really aren't. I sometimes heard Hawaiian and country sounds in here. You might not like the tracks I like, but I would try "Rough Romance" (#3), "So Cutoff" (#4), "Alive" (#8), and "Bloodriver" (#10).

1. Spooky, strange and melancholic, w/ a rock sensibility. Live drums & guitars, moody vibe.
2. Meandering and looping melodies with synth crashes & chimes
3. Wonky electro-funk, big analog bass, with a strangely Hawaiian tone
4. Dubbed-out house cut-up effects and looping synth warbles, a few neat sitar sounds
5. Weird & wacky. Big chords and dubby bass, echoing vocals, kinda stoned out
6. Lush ambient synths reverberating, and a few electro-acoustic effects
7. Probably the techy-est track so far, big beats & electro grinds, some video-game effects come in halfway
8. Techy disco. The sound effects & hi-hats are disco, with big funky electro-bass, but there's an out-there vibe that is distinctly techno-inspired.
9. Tech-house here with pads & swirls & beats, but there's also a bit of crackly effects being looped, with an occasional doorbell-like tone
10. Downtempo/trip-hop track - slow and hypnotic beats, with a female vocal sample looped in, and an Asian-esque tonal melody